Week one, cycle three

I had my first infusion of the third cycle of chemo today. The folks at St. Mary's were all smiles, and they told me the results from my first scans last week showed "vigorous" response to the chemotherapy. It is clear they are excited, and so am I. They tell me a strong response at the first scans is a positive sign and their most successful patients on this protocol tend to all have good early response.

My Aunt Andy came up to the City with me and Noah today. We are having a really nice, though brief, visit with her this week.

Now back to the election results... :-)

First Scan - Good News!

Just a quick good news update: I had my first scans today since beginning chemo treatments. The doctor called back early this afternoon and told me the tumors are smaller than in the baseline scan from August. For those who are consumed with curiosity, the scans are CT scans of my body, and an MRI of my head.

I am feeling pretty good about this news, needless to say. I had a pretty down week with sad family events on top of being in week three in the chemo cycle, which I find noticeably harder and more depleting than weeks one and two. The coming week is my "break" week since I had no infusion today. TTFN.

Another week...

My infusion yesterday was pretty typical. The only downer was it took them three tries to get the IV in a vein. Shannon, who is frequently my nurse at the infusion center, is under pressure to get better at IVs. I think it's messing with her head, like when a basketball team all lose confidence in their free throw shooting. The more she worries about it, the worse it gets.

Here's a picture of me and Margaret that Laura H. took at Nina's birthday party last week:

Start of the 2nd Cycle

I had an infusion yesterday. It was the first treatment of the second cycle. Nothing much new happened, but they did tell me they believe I will lose the rest of my hair. I'd say I feel fine, except I have a pretty bad cold. I'm hoping it runs its course quickly and I feel better within the next couple of days. My main plan for dealing with it is to switch to the tissues with lotion.

Rebecca has a stomach flu and is currently not keeping down fluids or attempting to eat. With any luck hers will also pass quickly. I'll keep my fingers crossed (and well washed) and hope I don't get her flu next.

More fallout

A couple of quick snapshots of how I look now. Most of the time I wear a hat or bandana...




And in a parental solidarity move, Joseph also shaved his head. Photo courtesy of Alexander:

Buzz Cut!

I've been obsessing about my rapidly thinning hair all week. Eve's haircut was a relief (and looked really good), but the rate of thinning has been increasing daily. I lost so much hair in the shower yesterday that it was visibly different afterward.

This afternoon I was obsessing some more and trying to convince myself to just buzz it off and be done with it. I tried my logic on Noah and Margaret (it's a difference of a few days either way, this gives me some control over it, it's visibly thin anyway), but they thought it still looked like hair and I should stick it out a bit longer. I was feeling out of sorts, tired, and a little "fluey" anyway, so I settled on the fence (again).

Then Joseph came over between a Rebecca drop-off and an Alex pick-up. I told him what I really wanted was to take control of the situation and make it fun to shave my head, but I was too tired and icky feeling to pull it off. Always up for an adventure or novel experience, Joe leaped into action. He bought me three energy drinks at 7-11 to taste test to get me past my low-energy buzz-kill (Monster was the winner). Then he made sure the clippers were adjusted properly and told me I had to get moving so he could be home in time for dinner. Margaret was our videographer, Noah provided help, plus love and affirmation, and the rest is history...

My Haircut at Apple

When my hair started falling out this week, my coworker, Eve, was kind enough to cut it short. Here is a video of my hair being cut in the ladies bathroom at Apple!





Here are the pictures Eve took when she was finished.

Third infusion

I had my third infusion this morning. It was free of incident, as usual. The doctors were interested in my mild symptoms of peripheral numbness, but they thought it was very minor and did not change my Abraxane dosage. I'm pretty tired now (9:20pm), but I didn't sleep well last night and I find the infustion days stressful, even though they are pretty dull and slow. I still can't tell if the drugs make me tired, or all the surrounding angst makes me tired.

I am definitely losing my hair now. They told me to expect it around week three, so maybe this is a bit early. I noticed yesterday that a lot of hair came out in the shower. Single strands, but quite a few of them. Now when I run my hand through my hair, if I apply any friction at all I pull out multiple strands of hair. I can feel them pulling out of my scalp, but the roots have died so they come out very gently. I didn't think this would be a big deal for me. It is, after all, a tiny blip in the big deal scheme of things compared with having cancer. But it is not making me happy.

Oh well. I have quite a few cool new hats so I'm ready for the bald head (I guess). I bought a number for myself to make sure I was prepared. Friends have also given me several really cool hats. I'll post pictures when I start wearing them.

Our walk after chemotherapy

Here are some photos Margaret took on our walk in Golden Gate Park after chemotherapy this week.
















This is our new dog, Mia, waiting for us to come in through the gate.



And here's Lucky Boy.

Photos below...

I added the photos in the posts below just to give a recent view of Alex and Rebecca. Joseph took these snapshots a few weeks ago on the first day of school. The last one is from two years ago when, on a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon, Joseph and Alex ran into John McCain camping with his son...

Alex's first day of middle school

Rebecca's first day of sophomore year

John McCain encounter - Grand Canyon 2006

First update via Blog

This blog is experimental. I have updated a number of people about my diagnosis (metastasized melanoma) and my treatment (chemo) via email, but I inevitably leave someone important off the list, or feel that I am spamming people who don't feel comfortable telling me they'll just ask if they want to know something about me. 

So, I'm going to see if blogging my updates works better. I'll send the URL out to folks, update the site periodically, and see if this turns out to be a good way keep people who want to know the latest up to date.

The latest, latest as of today (9/20) is that my second treatment this past Tuesday was uneventful. I still feel very well. I didn't get too tired. My hair has not begun to fall out yet. But I think I have beginning symptoms of numbness in my fingers and toes (mild enough that I'm not 100% sure it isn't my mind playing tricks on me). This is a symptom of neuropathy, which is a pretty common side effect of Abraxane (my chemo drug). I'll tell the doctors about it this week and we'll see if I skip a week of Abraxane, or if they reduce the dose. I think it will be one or the other. TTFN.